Until recently, Starbucks was bustling in the morning, with moms in workout gear and workers headed to the office stopping in to get their caffeine fix. But thanks to the slumbering economy, the crowds have thinned a bit.

Starbucks reported in November that its profits had fallen 97 percent during its fourth quarter.

If you're one who can no longer justify a daily cappuccino run, there are ways to improve the brew that comes out of the old automatic drip pot at home.

Be warned: Brewing coffee correctly is tougher than it sounds. Coffee snobs – rather, connoisseurs – are a bit like wine snobs, detecting notes of citrus, flowers and chocolate in their java. So don't let them catch you dumping Sweet'N Low or creamer in your cup. To them, it's as blasphemous as pouring white zinfandel from a box.

1. Making a great cup of coffee starts with the beans.

Coffee experts are dismissive – even contemptuous – of any coffee sold in a grocery store tin. Instead, they recommend buying small quantities of fresh beans from coffee houses supplied by local roasters or micro-roasters, usually small retail shops that roast the beans on site. Coffee, grown mainly in equatorial countries, is harvested at different times in different regions. Roasters try to buy beans harvested at their peak.

(This month, Bird Rock Coffee Roasters is serving brews from Sumatra and Ethiopia. Late in the month, Bolivian coffee will be featured, said owner Chuck Patton.)

There are two major coffee bean classifications: Robusto and Arabica, which tends to be the higher quality of the two. However, quality varies widely in both categories, so neither is a hard and fast measure, Patton said.

Coffee tastes best made from beans roasted two to 10 days prior. Afterward, the beans begin to lose flavor, said Matt Milletto, director of training at the American Barista & Coffee School in Portland, Ore.

With grocery store coffee, there's often no way of knowing when the beans were roasted, Milletto said.

2. Grind just before brewing.

It's a pain, but coffee experts recommend buying whole beans and grinding before each pot. Grinding breaks down the bean and exposes the coffee to air, which can speed up flavor loss. Use about two tablespoons of ground coffee for every cup.

3. Use the correct water temperature.

Coffee's flavor comes from extracting the oils in the beans, which is best done at temperatures between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit, or just below the boiling point. The problem is most automatic drip pots never get above about 170 degrees, coffee experts say.

Milletto recommends a French press for home brewing. A French press allows you to boil water, cool it slightly, then add it to the coffee and precisely control the amount of time the water and coffee are in contact (about 3-½ to 4-½ minutes). Coffee made with a French press should be ground more coarsely than for automatic drip pots.

What if you can't be bothered to French press while you're half-asleep at 6 a.m.?